Monday, October 13, 2014

TPS Students Visit Westar

Last Friday morning found most TPS students sleeping in.
However, several dozen high school students chose to rise early to attend a morning
session of “Electrify Your Future” at Westar Energy’s downtown corporate
offices. Through a partnership with Westar, TPS students are afforded many
unique opportunities- such as this one- to advance not just their educations,
but also their careers, with the utility company.

During their visit to Westar, which was led by TPS school
board member and Westar Human Resources executive Patrick Woods, students got
to meet with many representatives who told them about various careers within
the company. Mark Ruelle, Westar president and CEO, spoke to the students about
the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education, a
sentiment that was echoed throughout their tour of the building. The students
got to visit with executives from the accounting, energy trading, operations,
and security departments. In each department visit, students heard about the
education and skills needed for the jobs at hand and were also given the chance
to ask questions of the presenters.

Following their tour, the students participated in a
discussion panel that included two college interns, Chante Mitchell and Kaitlyn
Truesdell (both THS grads), an engineer (Vince Avila), and a real estate
analyst (Erin Quintanilla). The panel members answered questions and offered advice
to the kids.Intern Chante Mitchell
encouraged students to challenge themselves in math and science in high school
and college, recommending that they take harder classes and more courses than
are necessary to graduate. Engineer and Senior HR Business Partner Vince Avila
stressed the importance of soft skills, such as listening, making eye contact
and giving a proper introduction. He also recommended that the students enroll
in speech, debate and other communications classes as well as hands-on classes
such as those in industrial technology departments. Real Estate Analyst Erin
Quintanilla suggested that students be willing to tackle problems themselves
and to try new things. One recommendation that most of the presenters gave the
students was to find something they’re passionate about, that inspires them,
that keeps them engaged, and make a career out of it.

Careers at Westar, like any company that requires
specialized skills, will be becoming more plentiful in the near future. Westar
estimates that 50% of the present workforce will be eligible to retire in the
next ten years. In an effort to help prepare a career-ready population of young
people, Westar has partnered with Topeka Public Schools. The utility company
has worked with TPS to design a curriculum, offer job shadowing and internship
opportunities, and even provide college scholarships to the district’s
students. Friday’s “Electrify Your Future” event was another way Westar has joined
with TPS to ready our students for life after high school.

The students seemed to really enjoy their morning, asking
lots of great questions and listening attentively to all the answers. Hope
Street junior A’Jhana Dixon particularly enjoyed the security office visit,
which boasted vast amounts of hi-tech equipment. Dixon, who plans to go to
Washburn University or Butler Community College after high school, plans to
pursue Westar’s job shadowing and internship programs. The visit to Westar
helped inspire confidence in the young student, who said, “Sometimes I don’t
try things because I don’t want to fail, but I feel better about trying new
things now.”

Westar certainly offers students many opportunities to try
new things, and Friday’s “Electrify Your Future” event was no exception. Thank
you, Westar, for providing our students with this wonderful experience!